i’m addicted

Six months ago a magical thing happened: I discovered Groupon. And before I knew it I was throwing down my Amex for much-needed things like massages and hair cuts and half off at Mario Andretti’s racing school. And I was happy.

When Living Social jumped onto the scene I felt conflicted. Was I was cheating on Groupon? But I rationalized that competition is one of the building blocks of this country. And before I knew it my Amex was doing double time for keratin treatments and I was enjoying $10 off $20 worth of food at Bombay Palace. And I was happy.

I knew I was spreading myself thin but when I discovered Joss and Main I couldn’t help myself. Children’s Tabletop? Contemporary Luggage? Yes please. Keeping up with 3 sites full of attractive offers is time-consuming for sure, but I’m nothing if not a fighter. And I was happy.

And then I was invited to join Gilt and it quickly catapulted me into another world! A posh world of Badgley Mischka and suites at New York’s Carlton Hotel at a fraction of the cost. And I was in love.

Thank you Gilt for the ridiculously cute Fancy Nancy pajamas and slippers I bought for Maya. Nice touch with the feathers...

But today? Today I opened my inbox and I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t happy with the 7 offers staring me in the face – including one from Jetsetter taunting me with a Junior Suite at the Hotel del Crillon and an unsolicited email from Amazon Local offering me a good deal on Invisalign.

The truth is that my Amex and I are tired. We’re tired of the barrage of emails and we’re resentful we have to keep up with so many sites and deals. And because we’re both unhappy I’ve decided to unsubscribe from Groupon and all its copycat sites.

And I will. Right after I buy myself a designer Thanksgiving turkey and a pair of faux-crocodile Hunter Boots for $99. Wish me luck.

oh i’m the same way! it seems like there’s even more deal sites popping up daily! i have a list of about 10 websites i go through every morning over coffee. i think raising it over 10 would be unhealthy… so it’s a good thing one of them is dealnews that combines all of those 400 deal sites into one list where i pick what i actually need/want. The plus side of the addiction is we never go out to eat without a coupon now, and i get my pampering at the fanciest salons for a hair chain price. as tempting as it is to buy things i may not think i need… i’m not ready to give up the addiction.. the christmas season is coming up and that means groupon and living social try to outdo each other, like they did with amazon or target deals last year. i’m totally ready to embrace the battle!

I have the same problem!!! But you can’t quit just yet. Check out Amazon’s MyHabit.com: free shipping and return. But refund credits only. Luckily they become Amazon credits so at one point I had over 1000+ credits… yes I need help too….

You’re too funny! I keep thinking about trying out Groupon and Living Social, but since I live in a realatively rural area, I don’t know if they offer things around here. I’m almost afraid to look! Glad you feel you have your addiction under control! 😉

All of the Groupons ’round these parts have been terrible lately. I don’t know if local businesses are just over it or what, but all we seem to get are deals on framing, photo printing and teeth whitening. So over it.

Rue La La on the other hand, holds a special place in my heart. I think that DvF might be going on today. LOVE.

I know how you feel. I’m not good in resisting temptations. I used to subscribe to Gilt then I did more damages than good so I willingly unsubscribed myself. Luckily, I’ve never subscribed to Groupons nor Living Social. But I’m still subscribed at/with Haute Look, oh you should see what they have for the vacation destinations! Want me to send you an invite to Haute Look? 😉

I had to go cold turkey from all the shopping sites like Guilt and Rue La La. Only bad things can come of that. Bad beautiful, stylish, fancy, wonderful things….
I did keep Groupon and Living Social, but mostly for the tasty restaurant coupons. I usually delete them right away if I don’t know what they are for.

I have no idea what I will do with these deals when I move back to the States. They have blown up in my absence and I am afraid I will not be able to control myself upon my return. Wish me and MY Amex luck! 🙂

I am addicted too 😦 I get about 20 emails everyday for such offers and deals, I spent at least 30 minutes every morning on these emails, waiting for an amazing deal that I can use. These websites are addicting, but it has its advantages. Me and my husband bought movie tickets for $4 each (even for 3D movies) which is an awesome deal. We also keep searching for escape deals and restaurant deals.
There’s no going back for this addiction, I guess!!!

We don’t have Groupon here in the Middle of Nowhere 😦 Driving fours hours to redeem the nearest coupon is required. In general, I try to buying anything these days. Except a monthly massage. That’s as fundamental as a utility bill.

I’m on groupon and the daily save deals and this other one that’s only in LA but might be moving down to my city soon. Yeah, it can be a bit much but I’m usually ok with just buying a few here and there. My budget only allows so much so that’s that. Maybe you can take a break and then just subscribe to one.

I’ve never used Groupon, LivingSocial etc. but I do have a separate e-mail account that I use to sign up to things like that because I absolutely despise promotional spam. Sounds like a dangerous addiction – but those PJ’s are adorable!

I have coupon after expired coupon sitting in my coupon envelope. I love the deals but can’t figure out how / when to actually use the stuff. I unsubscribed a long time ago.
Love the fancy Nancy jammies

I also recently unsubscribed from Groupon and Living Social…my blackberry blinks like crazy every morning with all the e-mails clogging my inbox from them. I sure hope you won’t unsubscribe from Gilt though 😉

I have only heard of Groupon. Here everyone is signed up fro Sreamin’ Deals because the kid’s schools receive money when you do. I think in 2 years we’ve used it twice. There are great deals to be had but you have to have money in the first place.

You and your amex are not tired. They are hyperaroused. Sounds like borderline personality to me….
which completely puts the tootsie and gobble gobble combination come into a grander perspective….
They don’t have Groupon over here in Europe. But Amazon, that’s another matter….

oh man I’m in the same boat…hence why I’m taking pottery classes (?!) for the next few months. I had a question about your giving up sugar- do you avoid all sugars (including honey & agave nectar) or only refined sugars? Thank you!

Happy to see someone else has given up, on keeping up! All these fantabulous deals got too much and I had to unsubscribe from most of them. Besides, often I can really do without the stuff they sell, well almost….!

i know what you mean. i recently cancelled my subscription to living social because i realized it was just depressing getting all these e-mail abt get away deals to jamaica, australia vegas etc that i could not buy 😦

I’m right there with you…I was excited about all these cool “deals” at first. But now I get about a dozen emails a day offering cheap bikini waxes. Enough! Thank you for sharing another post with me. After a morning of baking, I smiled. Much love!

Haha good luck breaking away from those sites. 😉 They really ARE addictive. I jumped on that bandwagon a year ago and was forced to stop when I really truly had no money. The deals are pretty awesome, which makes it harder to quit…

Those pajamas, by the way, are ADORABLE!

And you’re half-Indian as well? That’s awesome! I love meeting other half-Indian people. So far I’ve only known two. One who was half-Indian/half-Chinese (gorgeous girl) and a really handsome half-German/half-Indian boy (who was kind of stuck up, ugh). Have you met many others?

Back in Bangalore all these great deal sites proved to be pretty heavy on my pocket… it was like I can live without food but not without the Oh So Great Deal of the day ( as if I was dying without them :))
Anyways I took control and marked all those email addresses as Spam so that I do not see them.. I must say that now my temptation is in control as I see Groupon’s ads at many a sites these days but I am not paying any attention… I won I won 🙂 🙂

HA! The same thing happened to my mom. I’m obsessed with Scoutmob… do you guys have that? I love it because you don’t have to buy anything first; if you have the app, it keeps track of all the deals and you just get 50% off when you use it at one of the featured restaurants. Pretty cool.

I was addicted to those deals! I even put groupbuyunited.com as my homepage, lol. All those deal websites are combined together in this one. I enjoyed all the cheap prices they offer. But at some point, I realized that I was spending money on things that I didn’t need.
So now, I unsubscribed from those website already. Maybe one day, when I accidentally check out those websites again and find out that I missed a really good deal, I’ll subscribe to them again :p